OPEN

[hornedomen]

Date & Time: All throughout January
Location: Outside places.
Characters: Ico and you!
Summary: Hunting and following hunters.
Warnings: Animals will die.

[a]

[The natural talents of a Sacrifice could only go so far. Though Ico picked up the bow and arrow with eerie efficiency, hunting was an entirely different matter. Not all his hunts were successful. It took time and failures for him to learn. Though at times he grew frustrated, he persevered.

Successful hunts ended in the death of a small animal such as birds. Ico did not enjoy it, but it was necessary. He prayed over the animal in a strange language. Because he had never hunted back in Toksa, he made up the prayers, and even the act itself. Once he finished, he hesitantly grabbed his knife.]

How am I supposed to do this?

[b]

[What better way to learn than by learning from a hunter? The hunters of Toksa village often hunted in groups, so he believed that by joining others, he would also better his chances of a successful hunt. Should Ico see another person hunting, he did not hesitate to follow. Snow crunched loudly under his feet as he quickly approached.]

Hey! [He waved to get their attention.] May I hunt with you? I'm still learning.

Comments

[hornedomen]

[Cautiously, he reached for the knife. Once he tucked it away on his belt, he began to circle Bariyan. What he saw was not a weapon, and much more surprising.

His Mark glowed brighter the closer he got to Bariyan. He put his hand over his chest, causing the light to shimmer across the fabric. Why would it react to Bariyan? Ico looked at him, confused.]

Why's this happening?

[He did not know whom he was asking, or what sort of answer he expected.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan cocked his head to one side, and frowned. Interesting. ]

I'm not sure, but I can match it.

[ He flexes his fingers, and light swirls into his palm, forming a yellow glow about his hands. ]

Perhaps it's the Light.

[hornedomen]

Why would the Light choose you? You've done terrible things. Seriously terrible!

[Tears welled in his eyes. Despite his accusations, the light from his Mark did not waver. Light poured out from his sword; the plain scabbard could not contain it.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan inhales through his teeth, now rather unsure of himself. He'd skimmed through some of the other Bariyan's correspondence, and while he hadn't seemed the most pleasant of people, he hadn't really been terrible either.

He lets the glow fade from his skin, and lets his hands fall to his side. ]

What things?

[hornedomen]

You killed Martin!

[Overwhelmed, the tears would not stop. He wiped them away on the back of his hand. He tried to make it stop, but that just made it worse.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan winces. Oh, no, don't cry, he doesn't know what to do with crying children. In this particular case, he suspects he ought to do nothing.

He steels himself, and shakes his head. ]

No. I did not. Someone who looked and sounded like me did, I... suppose.

[ No one had told him about that, though. Not even Martin. Huh. ]

[hornedomen]

[As much as he hated to hear it, he knew it was true.]

Bariyan killed him.

[That Bariyan that was not this Bariyan. This man looked like him, but he could not be held responsible for the acts that Bariyan committed in the past. He wiped his face against his scarf. His lips trembled as he tried to steady his voice.]

Does everyone else know?

[stonefaith]

That I'm not him? [ Bariyan smiles. ] Yes. I think so. I reached out to most of them, I believe. Martin, Koltira, Roslyn.... [ Well, other Bariyan hadn't made very many friends. ]

[hornedomen]

[He watched Bariyan with a sullen expression. After a moment of thought, he returned his knife to him. He put his shield away. The light of his Mark and sword did not fade; instead, it receded into the boy.]

Was Martin sad? He liked Bariyan a lot.

[stonefaith]

He was. I was terribly sorry for him. But he seems to be doing better, these days.

[ Bariyan pauses before holding out his hand to accept the returned knife. ]

What is your name, child?

[hornedomen]

[Good, he did not like to see Martin sad. He dropped the knife in his hand.]

Ico. [He muttered something but he was taught better than that. He spoke louder.] I'm sorry about how I acted. It's not your fault.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan closes his fingers on the knife, and then holds out his free hand. He laughs. He's quite relieved. ]

That's all right. No hard feelings, Ico.

[hornedomen]

[Hesitantly, he grabbed his hand. His Mark shimmered again and it seemed to dance on the slightest hint of wind. Once he let go, it stopped.]

I don't understand. What is the Light to you?

[stonefaith]

[ Finally, a damn handshake from someone. Bariyan shakes with enthusiasm. ]

It's... my creed? My faith? [ Bariyan frowns. He's not in the habit of having to explain the Light to people. Especially not to people who evidently know what it is. ] Same as you, I reckon. Though I don't believe you're from Azeroth.

[hornedomen]

[Being much smaller than Bariyan, it shook Ico up to his shoulder. He did not return the feeling, but he was slowly becoming less tense around him.]

It's my faith, too. You see this Mark? [He placed his hand over the cloth.] It's from the Book of Light. This sword, too. They're blessings, from Sol Raveh.

[He looked at Bariyan for any similar markings.] Why would we have the same faith?

[stonefaith]

[ That's all mysterious and strange to Bariyan. He sees Ico looking at him, and shakes his head. No. He's got none of those trappings. ]

I don't believe it's quite the same. None of what you've said sounds familiar to me. [ Bariyan scratches his chin, studies the mark, and the sword. Then he laughs. ] I'd like to believe it's the same in principle, though.

[hornedomen]

I think so, too. The Light is powerful, it makes sense that it exists in different worlds.

[Even if they were not exactly the same, he believed that they were different forms of the same god.]

Maybe that's why you're different from him. Because you chose the Light.

[stonefaith]

I think it's simpler than that, boy. We seemed to have led entirely different existences, in entirely different worlds. Perhaps the Light was not even recognized, wherever he came from.

[ Bariyan turns his knife over in his hands, and shakes his head. He looks to Ico's kill. ]

Now-- do you still want to see about this fox of yours?

[hornedomen]

If that's true, then I pity him. The Light probably could have saved him.

[He sat before the fox. Quickly, he glanced at Bariyan. This man is different, he told himself. There was no need to distance himself from this Bariyan.]

Please, show me. [Abruptly, he asked:] Do you pray for them after you kill them?

[stonefaith]

Pray? [ Bariyan frowns as he turns his knife over in his hands. Then he shakes his head. ] I can't say I do... do you?

[ He pauses with the tip of the knife hovering just above the fox's carcass. If Ico wants to pray, Bariyan won't start dressing until after he's done. ]

[hornedomen]

I do. I don't know if anyone else does. We all follow the Light in Toksa village, but no one taught me about what I'm supposed to do here.

[He placed his hand over the fox's cold head.] I've never hunted with the hunters back home. Go ahead, I already prayed.

[stonefaith]

[ Hm. Bariyan gives Ico a critical stare, for a few moments, trying to guess the boy's age. He must be pretty young, if no one's brought him on a hunt. Or perhaps things are different wherever Ico comes from.

Bariyan returns his attention to the fox. ]

All right. Now-- I'm guessing you want this for food, yes? If so, the first cut goes here [ Bariyan lowers the tip of his knife to a point on the fox's underside, slightly below the head. ]

[hornedomen]

[That stare was met with one of Ico's own, as if he were trying to peer into his very thoughts. Eventually, once Bariyan turned to the fox, so did he.]

Is that to take out the inside parts that we can't eat?

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan nods. ] Exactly. Then you cut all the way down.

[ He takes that as confirmation that Ico's more interested in the meat than the fur, so he cuts in, then slides the knife down along the belly. Red meat blossoms outwards in the knife's wake. ]

Were there hunters in your family?

[hornedomen]

I don't know. My foster parents aren't hunters, they're too old to hunt anyway. And I never knew my birth parents. I'm forbidden to know them. It's tradition, because I'm a Sacrifice.

[He watched it all, from the direction of the cut to the red seeping into the snow. As much as he tried to look unfazed by the gore, his nose wrinkled.]

I guess that's why no one taught me.